One of the things we experience in the communications field is the feeling that everything you post is posting to post something for the heck of posting.

Have you already broken your New Year’s Resolutions? Like, that 5:30 AM daily workout when you haven’t woken up earlier than 9 AM since Christmas? Dry January? Whole 30? A trickle of transparency here. I’m terrible at maintaining them. Sure, I’ve done Dry January more than once, but I’m not the person who changes everything about my life just because the ball dropped.

Here’s the hard truth about New Year’s Resolutions. You won’t change your life without changing your lifestyle. That requires many things but, above all else, mindfulness.

While I was interning in the summer of 2022, I had a habit of doing my daily due diligence and called my mom from the halls of the Rayburn House Office Building. On this particular day, after I filled her in on my boss’s latest press clips and what Members of Congress were voting on that day, she gave me the family update. Mom went down the list, sharing all of her summer activities and the family hiccups she dealt with that day. But, the one that stood out the most? My 13-year-old sister neglected to call her.

I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret. The strongest, most successful people you know have failed and have failed a lot. In the professional setting, ‘failure’ and ‘rejection’ are four-letter words. Nobody wants to talk about those so-called shortcomings because they’re afraid of being judged by their peers. I’m guilty of it myself; sometimes, that’s the best way to handle it. But, dear reader, I decided to come at this piece with a sprinkle of transparency and a dash of nuance.

Everything is shared on social media. Whether it be a ‘soft launch’ or even a new career move, it seems like it’s all out there with the click of a button. We like to make fun of the boomers for posting, liking, commenting, and so on Facebook, but we, too, just in different ways. It’s easy to click that button to post something online, and then there’s the temporary serotonin boost and validation that follows through likes, reposts, and shares. But let’s put vanity aside here. How can we protect the little privacy we have left?

Are you looking for a mentor? Find your people first. Ladies, I’ve said it before, but sometimes it feels downright impossible to find a woman to take you under their mentorship wing in This Town.

Watch What You Post Online. Dear staffers, if you have your boss’s social media handle in your social media bio, you (and I can’t stress this enough) must watch what you post online. I can’t begin to stress this enough — in all shapes and forms, you are a representative of your representative or committee, an organization, a campaign, and so on. You are aligned with said political party if you post things relevant to your political beliefs.

Women in This Town can have their cake and eat it too. But only when they’re ready. It shouldn’t be black or white. Being a feminist doesn’t mean you can’t be feminine any more than believing in traditional values, and Marriage means you have to be a “trad-wife.”

When it comes to work, I’m very much a “can’t stop, won’t stop” kind of girl. My brain works a million miles a millisecond. Efficiency is always crucial, but sometimes, it’s better to work smarter first so you can work harder.

In 2023, Feminism is a four-letter word.